The Case: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has appointed Swiss-Pakistani executive Saadia Zahidi as its next Director General, making her the first woman to lead the global airline body. She will take over in November 2026 from Willie Walsh, former CEO of Aer Lingus and British Airways.

The Case: UBS has been fined US$125 million by U.S. regulators for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) – the largest civil penalty ever imposed on a broker-dealer under the law. The Commentary: According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), UBS Financial Services willfully…

The Case: The Principality of Liechtenstein has confirmed a significant cyberattack targeting its Register of Beneficial Owners, resulting in the unauthorized access and exfiltration of data associated with approximately 31,000 legal entities. The Commentary: The affected register was established in 2021 to comply with the European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML)…

The Case: Zurich Insurance Group is facing heightened regulatory scrutiny in Switzerland as the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is examining two separate matters involving the insurer’s pension business and insurance businesses. The Commentary: In one case, FINMA is reviewing Vita, Zurich’s collective pension foundation, in order to assess…

The Case: Last week, the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) voted to remove Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan by secret ballot after finding him guilty of serious misconduct and breach of duty. The decision is one that victims’ right group and watchdog had been pushing for.…

The Case: The European Union has adopted its 21st package of sanctions against Russia, targeting its energy, financial and cryptocurrency sectors in an effort to curb funding for the war in Ukraine. The Commentary: According to the Council of the EU, the package is the bloc’s largest sanctions round in…

The Case: Google has been hit with a record € 890 million (approximately USD 1 billion) fine by the European Union. The Commentary: The fine marks the EU’s first financial penalty against Google under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which entered into force in 2024. It is the largest fine…

The Case: After nearly two years of investigations into allegations of sexual harassment against the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, the Court’s 125 States Parties are scheduled to vote tomorrow on whether to proceed with his removal from office. The Commentary: The proceedings have been marked by…

The Case: The OECD Economic Outlook provides analyses and forecasts of key short-term global economic trends, including GDP growth, inflation as well as labour market developments across OECD member countries and selected partner economies. As part of this series, the OECD Economics Department offered region-specific presentations tailored to the economic…

The Case: In an extensive interview, FINMA Chair Marlene Amstad argues that Switzerland’s financial regulator should be granted the authority to impose fines and publicly disclose serious regulatory breaches committed by financial institutions. The Commentary: According to Amstad, transparency is essential to strengthen market discipline. “On average, we conclude around…